G'day all,

[Blingking]

Hi folks, new to Prospecting Australia and thought i'd better join after spying in on the forums for a while now.
I'm based in Pakenham and have a couple of SD2300's, been out to the triangle but just finding lead shot
and wire etc, really enjoy it though. The only bit i did find was in the old Warrandyte diggings, a gold in
quartz piece maybe an inch that i reckon fell out of a wheel barra maybe back in the day! I've tried panning
out Neerim way as i'm reading up on the old reports there but i'm very green with the panning so if anyone's
keen for a day out give us a shout. Also been looking for gemstones and just lots of little bits of crystal so far!
Cheers, Scott

 

[AtomRat]

Gday Scott and welcome to the forum I might be able to give you a hand

 

[vstrom]

Hi Scott I live in narre Warren am using a f1a4 level 2 in for lev 3 upgrade at moment there are some diggings in nerrim you could try of Latrobe river road where dirt starts maybe we can together and try a few places in triangle

 

[Blingking]

G'day AtomRat, vstrom. Yeah for sure i'd be keen for a day out fellas. I noticed Atomrat you've been looking around
william wallace creek and surrounding area, i was reading Reverend Bleasdale found a ruby crystal there, any luck?
Hey vstrom, yep i know that road been up it a bit in the creek, any finds? Sounds like a plan fellas.

 

[AtomRat]

Been difficult to gain access so far with little luck over there. Its hiding well
I've been wondering even about some of the stuff towards Pakenham and what's close to Haunted Gully. Sucks its a resevior now
I havnt stopped at neerim or noojee yet myself, some stones of sorts to get out there too

 

[vstrom]

No gold yet couple of coins buttons what seem to lead nuggets but haven't given up hope yet diggings not near Hawthorne creek at start of dirt road of to right

 

[Blingking]

Montuna golf course Atomrat, we could tea off at 8 and be digging their creek by 9, creek runs right through it!
Seriously though, i know of a few creeks around Pakenham upper worth a look according to my book.
Yes hiding well!

 

[Blingking]

Vstrom, lead nuggets that's not what u want. How do you go with the vegetation around there? I thought panning was the go out Neerim way.

 

[vstrom]

Not to bad with 14/7 nugget finder not into panning yet ! one day when I know what to do .There was 2 gold mines in area so since I'm close I thought I'd give it a try some people still go and find the occasional bit from in the creek it's got to be comeing from somewhere.

 

[Blingking]

Yeah i want to learn more about panning and this sluicing business seeing as i'm close to there too.
Maybe catch up for a trip sometime or as you mentioned out central goldfields way to detect.
What's a 14/7 mate?

 

[vstrom]

My bad it's 14"by 8" coil easy to push round scrub . I'm heading out this weekend if your interested staying on block in bealiba.

 

[user 4386]

Two things re William Wallace ruby. The first is that it is probably not a ruby (needs checking in "Gem Minerals of Victoria" - Birch and Henry). The museum refers to it in a paragraph on SUPPOSED rubies and refers to Bleasdale's crystal from William Wallace Creek as 'ruby' not ruby (so maybe it was just a red spinel). The second thing is that the William Wallace Creek east of Gembrook that we know now is possibly not the creek Bleasdale knew where he got his gemstones. A track was put in northwards by a Mrs Janet Bowman from ?Upper Beaconsfield (owned the pub) to join the Upper Yarra track on the Baw Baw Plateau, thus giving Gippsland diggers access to the Upper Yarra goldfield and (more importantly) Woods Point - Bowman's track. So far as I can determine it did run up the William Wallace creek that we know near Gembrook, and the Bowman bunch did peg tin mining claims along the track, which they referred to as the William Wallace mine. However Birch (museum mineralogist) thinks their mine was further north, possibly on McCraes Creek, so either a different creek had that William Wallace name then, or it had proved a dud and they did better further north, where Bleasdale found his ruby. McRaes Ck was definitely a tin-mining area. However newspapers of the day (on Trove) say their mine was between the heads of the Latrobe River and Little Yarra River, which is not only further north from William Wallace Creek but east from McRaes Ck. This was an important tin mining areas, as was Beenak. In fact a little tin was recovered all through the granite country from Bunyip to Gembrook to the Latrobe and Little Yarra rivers to west from Noojee and Neerim, but the areas I mentioned were the most productive areas (that granite is a sodium-rich tin granite, often associated with tin - I think it is called the Tynong Granite). Granite is good for topaz, tourmaline tin and some zircon (sometimes also tungsten as wolframite as on Brittania Creek or scellite around Koetong), the zircons, sapphires and rubies in Victoria more commonly weather out of basalt flows in the valleys. So topaz is commonly reported from tin mining areas but sapphires and rubies occur all through both tin and gold mining areas (e,g Donnelys Creek green sapphires, Leigh River and Trentham blue sapphires. The Tynong Granite has basalt flows on top of it, so has all of those gemstones. Hope that helps your prospecting....you should read the book by Birch and henry - good mineralogists and prospectors, lots of maps